With all the autumn items going on clearance now, I was finally able to pick up one of those fake carvable pumpkins.  I love the idea of reusable decor.  Don't get me wrong...I am also a big fan of carving real pumpkins every year.  It's fun to choose a different design each time and see what we come up with.  However, having a stash of staple decorations is kind of nice.  They can stand as the base of my seasonal decor and the others, like the real pumpkins, can be the fluff and fillers that provide a little variety year after year.

Back to my fake pumpkin, I knew I wanted to do some sort of monogram like this.  I think it just looks so timeless, something that would never go out of style.

I found this great tutorial by Diane which shows how to get the the type of monogram look I was going for.  Instead of Photoshop Elements, I used Adobe Illustrator CS5 because that is what I am most comfortable with.  From there, putting all the pieces together was very easy!

Monogrammed Pumpkin DIY

Supplies Needed:

• Styrofoam Pumpkin
• Illustrating program (e.g. Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.)
• Printer
• Wooden Pencil
• Stylus
• Paint Pen (Optional)
• Paint
• Paintbrush
• Spray Sealant

1. Using the tutorial from here, create and print your monogram.
2. Using a tip from here, rub the pencil on the back of the paper where you will be tracing.  This turns your paper into quickie carbon paper.
3. Tape monogram onto pumpkin.  Using a fine tip stylus, trace the monogram.  The graphite will rub off and the stylus will create some easy-to-see indentations.  Don't press too hard!  You can easily break into the styrofoam layer if you do.
4. (Optional)  Using a paint pen, trace over the outline.  I found it easier to fill in the shape after the outline was set.
5. With matching paint, fill in the outline with a small paint brush.  Apply additional coats as needed.  My pumpkin took three coats.
6. If using acrylic paint, apply a coat or two of spray sealant.

 

I love this project!  All in all, it took me about 1.5 hours to complete, not including the sealant drying times.  This is an easy project to tackle on a rainy afternoon or while you're catching up on some TV episodes.

 For more DIY autumn decor, click here.

After reading a ton of diy blogs, one of the projects I have been dying to start is repainting my front door.  Our door was originally painted black by the builder to match our shutters, just like they did for all the other houses in the neighborhood.  I love the look of the black shutters on blue siding, but not so much the black door surrounded by brick.  It made things look too matchy-matchy.  I wanted something that would stand out.  I tend to be more traditional in my tastes, but this was something semi-modern that I really wanted to do.



Inspired by newly painted doors from here and here, I was ready to start!

To summarize my process, here are the steps I knew I would have to do:

• Choose a color.
• Clean door very well.  
• Smooth out any rough spots.
• Apply paint with 2.5" angled brush and small roller.
• Enjoy!

We chose several swatches at the local hardware store in order to pin down the perfect shade.  I was cheering for the yellow team and Nestor was leading the red team.  I honestly loved both colors, but yellow was calling my name.  And funny fact...the color that won was Acorn Squash by Olympic.  Doesn't it sound like a perfect match now that we're in autumn?  We chose the semi-gloss with primer for exterior, the Olympic Icon line.  We have successfully used primer/paint colors in the past on other projects so I figured it would work well enough for our door, too. 



Then came the hard part...putting that dripping yellow paintbrush to the door.  There would be no going back after that.  That first coat was pretty scary.  I never knew the infinite amount of nooks and crannies one door could possibly have.  It looked horrible.  Really horrible.  It made me second guess myself several times, but I crossed my fingers and listed to the diy masters when they said the first coat is always the worst.  Because of the earlier dusk hours this month, we were only able to get four coats on before needing to let the paint cure before closing the door.  We simply left the door slightly ajar with a stool behind it to keep it from swinging all the way open.  As an extra bonus, it functioned as a cat-opening-door alarm.  Love multi-taskers.












































I had hoped to post about this accomplished goal sooner, but life just didn't work out that way.  Even though we used paint with primer in the mix, it still wasn't enough to combat the solid black door.

Lesson Learned:  Always prime over black paint!

All in all, this supposedly quick one day project took 11 coats to complete over the course of 7 days.  A lot of the wait time was due to rainy weather, but really...seven days?!?!  Eleven coats?!?!?!  It got to the point where Nestor started helping me paint the last couple of coats.  I think he took pity on me because this man hates to paint anything.  This was my first time using Olympic paint so I don't know if the Valspar would have performed better.  I don't even know if I would have started the project if I knew how long it would take...




















But the end result was very much worth it.  Seeing that door as I go down the driveway really does make me happy.  It's like my house is saying "hello, welcome home".

Autumn may be my absolute favorite season of the year to live in, but it's not one I typically decorate for.  This year, I really wanted to incorporate just a few small touches to bring my favorite season indoors.

While strolling the aisles of Jo-Ann a few weeks ago, I spotted these tiny paper mache gourds on clearance.  Tiny gourds practically scream autumn to me!  I always want to buy a ton of them in the grocery store, but I didn't feel right buying a bunch of them just for decor.  At least with pumpkins, you can also carve them instead of leaving them whole.  Anyway, I'm just a sucker for playing with craft paint and getting my hands dirty so it wasn't too hard to resist buying them.


 These were incredibly easy to make.  I didn't try for the realistic look at all.  Gifted painter I know I am not.  Solid hues of metallic colors were just right for me.  I used tiny dabber paints from Ranger in silver, gold, and copper.  Instead of using the sponge dabbers, I just dipped my brush right into the bottle so I could have more control in the amount of paint used.  These paints covered so well that they only needed one coat to completely cover the kraft.   


Just lovely.  This little diy project took me less than half an hour to complete and now I have a tiny bit of autumn in my home.  Best part...they are reusable year after year! 

Does anyone else do impulse purchases of paper mache objects because they are too cute to resist?

At our previous home, recyling was taken care of by the HOA.  Not something I really thought about a lot.  So...fast forward to our new home and I not have to choose my own trash disposal company.  Without detailing all my woes with the first company I chose, let me just say that the price of recycling pick-up on top of the quarterly fee was just too much.

But...


all this was being thrown away even though it could be recycled (ignore the squirrel food in the bottom right).  Just a pile of recyclable items in the garage.  And since I'm generally trying to be a little more green (eco friendly?), this just didn't sit right with me.  After some digging, I found out there was a satellite center just minutes from the house which was totally doable.

So the search for the perfect recycling receptacle began!  My efforts began with a trash bag hanging off a kitchen drawer while I was still on the search.  Just ugly.  Really ugly.  So...enter in the Simple Human 60 litre Rectangular Recycler.  I adore Simple Human products.  I think they're all so well thought out and fit the bill every time that they're usually the first items I look at.  Back to the trash can, it comes with two compartments, one for recycling and one for trash.  I tried doing it this way at first, using both sides individually, but the size just wasn't working for those bulky recyclables like cardboard boxes.  Best idea ever...a removable divider!  Problem solved. 33-gallon liners fit perfectly with plenty of room leftover to tie off the bag.

But...I had to label it somehow.  Because no matter how lovely their products are, it still looked like a regular trash can.  My in-laws would confuse my recycling trash can with the regular trash can sometimes.  Imagine me digging in there for some banana peels.

Here comes the Silhouette to save the day!  As a welcome birthday gift from my husband, I decided to try my hand at vinyl labels.  Super easy.  I googled some public recyling logos and traced those on the software.

 
Carefully remove the pieces you want onto the transfer paper while taking off the negative area.  Still a struggle but it can be done.


Apply to your surface of choice...


and tadah!!!  Isn't it beautiful?  My husband told me after he saw it that it looked like I had bought it that way.  Love the magic of vinyl.  Now no more confusion on where to put things and we are saving the planet in our own little way!

And to end with a last parting image...


The Simply Human can in all it's labeled glory.  It's become one of my favorite things in the kitchen.  It fits so much in there that I empty it maybe once a week.

Has anyone else used their Silhouette or other cutting machine to make vinyl labels for something?  I'd love to hear about it.